Transportation Budget

The few million in this proposed budget seems like so little compared to the huge Sound Transit projects many of us are used to – but in this case, at this time, it goes a long way.

In the next couple of years, Sound Transit is likely going to put together their ST3 package; sources in Sound Transit say it’s looking more likely that we could see a regional vote in 2016. The primary goals for the next package are to connect Everett, Tacoma and Redmond (and maybe Issaquah) with extensions of Link. This means there will be money in Seattle for projects too, but it might not be exactly the right amount for the big projects we need in the city – it could be too much for one surface or elevated rail line, or too little for underground rail. We don’t know.

The projects on the table right now – major improvements to the streetcar line on Westlake (likely making it more like Link than streetcar), connecting it through downtown to the First Hill line, to Ballard via Fremont, and to the U-district via Eastlake, building real BRT on Madison, and extending the First Hill streetcar to Aloha – are all projects that might fill in those gaps.

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I always have thought that a streetcar replacing the 7 would help feed LINK, although I know that would not be built. I would settle for passing wires for the trolleybuses.

This might be off topic, but yesterday I had a temp job that took me down to Tumwater, and as the furniture-moving truck I was on passed through Hawks Prairie on the northern outskirts of Lacey, I was shocked how much the area had grown up. 10 years ago, it was still just the Hawks Prairie Inn resteraunt, and a few other businesses, now it seems to be big box stores, fast food outlets, and the beginnings of urban sprawl. I honestly do not know how far the BNSF main is East of I-5 in this area, but might have been a good place for a SOUNDER stop had the train actually pulled into Olympia. Although I doubt Thurston County would consider changing their mind on not joining the RTA. Intercity Transit is building a park and ride there, and it would be served mostly by carpools, vanpools, Dial-a-lift service, and the commuter routes from Olympia to Tacoma. The Tacoma commuter routes(600 number block) now serve Lakewood Station. When it opens, might make a good commuter alternative.

“Ah, Seattle, the city of down pillows and restless dreamers. A coffee shop on every corner and the home of John W. Nordstrom (JWN). There was a time in this city when, if John Nordstrom sneezed, every politician caught a cold. People will tell you that the transit Ride Free Area, created in 1973, was to encourage bus rider patronage, but that was just an afterthought. John Nordstrom wanted secretaries who worked a half mile from his store to be able to shop there on lunch breaks …. Perhaps his influence is waning now that … another generation of Nordstrom offspring run the company.”

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